Karabakh conflict can be settled only by conflict parties: Russian FM

The Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict can be settled only by the conflict parties, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said at a press conference Jan. 15.

“Regarding the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict’s settlement, Russia cannot have concrete plans to resolve this problem, because the issue can only be resolved by the parties of the conflict,” he said. “Russia – together with the US and France as the three co-chair countries of the OSCE Minsk Group – is doing everything to create conditions for such a resolution.”

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.

The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.